


(why don't we) rewrite the stars

by kizmet13



Series: constellations. [1]
Category: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Light Angst, Pre-Canon, Song: Rewrite the Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-27 13:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30123483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kizmet13/pseuds/kizmet13
Summary: Perhaps in another world wherein Raya was no princess of Heart and Namaari was not the next ruler of Fang, maybe then they stood a chance.But this world contradicts their saccharine fantasy. And the sullen reality is that Raya and Namaari were not each other's destinies, for fate forbids them to cease the space that sprawls in between, proving it impossible to run to each other.Because in the end, they're bound to break with hands tied, anchored to two conflicting and distant stars.
Relationships: Namaari & Raya (Disney), Namaari/Raya (Disney)
Series: constellations. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2216913
Comments: 12
Kudos: 75





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> i apologize in advance if the writing is bad (originally written as a short fic, i wrote this at 2 am) im also so sorry if there are grammatical errors as english isn't my first language and if the characters seems a little out of character-
> 
> i tried my best

"Are you sure about this, Namaari?" Virana looks out by the glass panes that covered the palace, a scepter locked within her grasp. The day was young and new, the sun glimmering its way up to the center of blue sky, its rays dancing freely in the air as bright light sweetly stings against Fang's dragon gem. "It might be too dangerous for you, my little morning mist." she adds.

"She took what's ours, mother. Even threatened to destroy Fang." Namaari speaks out, her eyes affixed onto Virana's back, "I need to look for Raya because I know her. I know she meant what she said last night. And if I don't find her in time, Fang will end up in vain." she finishes, voice tinted with worry and anxiety. She knew she deserved whatever revenge Raya threw towards her, that she deserved to suffer and to be left in pain just like what she had casted in the Heartlands. Her people, though, was a whole different story. The world shattering to pieces was none of their fault; only Namaari's, alongside the other tribe leaders, who were as greedy as Virana and Namaari, that broke the Gem away. Her mother sighs silently, before walking away from the window, making her way towards her daughter. Towards her little morning mist. Virana lays a hand upon Namaari's shoulder, gazing at the girl's lowered head as if trying to convince her not to go along such a seemingly idle and futile plan, "And how are you sure about this, Namaari? You barely even know Benja's daughter."

Namaari sighs, before raising her head to meet her mother's eyes. "I asked her to kill me, and she almost did." Virana shakes her head slowly, backing away slightly as Namaari continues to reason with her in attempts to persuade Fang's leader, "Mother, she did not try to hesitate." she says, before Virana looks straight into her eyes, "But she spared your life."

"Only because she decided to inflict more misery in me by keeping me alive." Namaari utters, voice within tones of begging, pleading her mother to agree. "She wants me to suffer by living in remorse, mother." Namaari wanted to stop her nemesis from achieving the latter's goal. She wished, hoped that Raya would never be able to find the last dragon for she knew that the Heart Princess was someone who never breaks a promise. "Namaari, what's the real reason you're doing this?" her mother's quiet voice was enough to snap Namaari off her thoughts. They were rather strange, a question too vague yet quite clear to Namaari. 

Her mother knew she loves Raya; no, scratch that, she  _ loved _ Raya.

It started that day they fled from Heart, fear arising beneath their calm and collected facades as they realized what war and danger they had caused the world, thus dooming it forever. Namaari was thirteen, and Raya was twelve when that fateful day snapped. At home, after the incident, Namaari was afraid. Not for her own sake, but for Fang's and the rest of the world's. She'd always remember the look at Raya's face when her Ba got shot by an arrow, and the last time her eyes pointed at her figure was when Virana was dragging her away towards the exit of the cave, eyes locked at Raya and Benja's struggling figures. They had a big chunk of the gem, making it easier for them to escape. Looking back when she was a kid, Namaari was drowning in a sea of guilt. She could've saved people, she could've asked her mother to drag and salvage as many as possible with them. The problem stirred within her after all.

The worst part was that she could have helped Raya, the person she inflicted with the most pain. But she didn't. She refused to do so. By the time she regrets it, it was too late and impossible for anyone to turn back time. And rather than living beneath the dim waters of what's bygone, Namaari convinced her mother and decided to enhance Fang's water canal, an order to protect their people. If in preceding time, back in Heartlands, they weren't able to help the others from dying against the Druun, then maybe helping the ones left of Fang will be enough to make up for that guilt.

But Namaari, deep inside her, knew; It was never going to be enough.

"You told me once that you felt guilty for betraying Benja's daughter, for all that's happened, which is why we had and strengthen the canals to protect what was left of us. To save what could be protected, something we weren't able to do five years ago." Virana states, walking closer towards Namaari, "My darling, are you sure you want to follow Raya because of the dragon scroll? Or is it because," Namaari's shoulders slumped slightly,  _ she knew where this was going _ . A mum sigh escapes her lips, quiet enough to hinder her disappointment from her mother because of a love not meant to be. "Is it because you still love her?"

"Love is irrelevant to people like us, mother." Namaari replies, albeit quite sadly, "Fang goes first before anyone. And that includes Raya."

"That's not what I'm asking, Namaari." Virana shakes her head from side to side, knowing that it was just another dodging answer from a question made of bullets, "Do you still love Benja's daughter?"

Namaari halts for a moment, she can still continue the game of playing pretend, the idea of wearing a mask, a disguise filled with deception and falsities. She can deny her feelings, and her mother might believe it, which in turn, might be the steppingstone for her to believe in it as well. On the other hand, she can just swat away the concealing facade and be truthful to herself just this once. Namaari knew her sentiments too well, the problem is that she's determined to get rid of them and bury them into the ground, such fervor was unwanted. But then again, once you manipulate yourself into such a notion, and bury them deep into soil, the sensation you kept in might grow into something stronger, something even deeper and much more meaningful; like a seed planted into the ground. That was what Namaari has been doing for a long time, without noticing that her feelings are slowly growing into a hopeless longing, but chooses to shrug it off instead.

What does her feelings get to do against what kismet had planned and what destiny has written beforehand, anyway? Even if, say, she still loves Raya, it will not change such alignment within the stars. It will not change the fact that they're from two ends of the world, forbidden to fill the space between. She was not Raya's, and Raya was not hers. And no matter how much they both want to run away, to break free from their identities of two different sides, fate still manages to pull them from one another, miles away apart.

It was, after all, a hopeless love story.

And so, looking at her mother with hues of seriousness in her dark orbs, Namaari tells her the easiest answer, "No."


	2. maybe the world could be ours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i once again apologize for the crappy writing and if raya and namaari seems to be a lil out of character cries hope y'all like it though (also this chapter is kind of a recap from the prologue so yea)

"You are not taking that scroll." Her voice echoed throughout the ghastly voids of Fang's forest. Trees stood stern and upright, its leaves swaying rather graceful, as if dancing amidst the chill and slightly frothy breeze. "What are you gonna do about it,  _ dep la? _ " the other girl sing-songs, as if mocking the Fang warrior. By the thresholds of the forest, stood two girls: one dressed in white and fashioned of gold, her raven half-shaved hair flowed at the right side of her face. She wore a look of hardened stone, albeit the other girl dressed in neutral hues seems to notice a tint of lament and gloom buried deep within her irises. But then again, why would she? She was different from the  _ Namaari _ she knew; or perhaps the Namaari she first thought was, the Namaari she met with a layer of a kind and innocent veil. The only similarities she could find, however, was that the warrior standing in front of her with a golden spear in her hands was the same child that took her heart and befriended her without realizing she had her at a gunpoint. That the woman in front of her was the same girl who betrayed her, turning her trust to ash.

_ Namaari _ , as she angrily mutters to herself back then, was the same person who screwed the world over and took everything from her.

Namaari strikes towards Raya's direction, her spear whipping through cold air as the latter jumps, tumbling as she dodges the attack in swift motions. "Missed." the princess of Heart playfully says, "Gotta say, Princess Undercut, you need to work on your aim before taking back that scroll."

The Fang growls, "You're not taking what's ours, Raya. You're not taking what belongs to Fang." Namaari adds sternly, hissing as her voice is filled with colors of authority and solemnity.

As she hears those words fill the air, her eyes change, her vision shifts into a certain event. Her eyes used to bear a glint of teasing mocking tunes, a characteristic she always had within her. But now her facade was no different from Namaari. After all, she was just as strong and as brave and as hard as her. The only difference was that Namaari had to learn how to cover up her own emotions, being the next leader of Fang and all. But Raya? she had to age, rip off her innocence and purity away from her. Though she managed to keep a scarce amount of spirit from her younger self, Raya still knew that the girl she grew up today was far more different than Raya from the erstwhile times. She had no choice but to grow up and build layers and layers of stoned walls, without even having the chance to create her own childhood. No chance in writing her own past. Not a chance in weaving her own dreams. After all, her backstory was something she did not like looking back to, with harsh incubus threatening to pin her down to the ground, killing her every time she reminisces of it. But then again, there was no point in looking back to what's done, a vile memory that obviously cannot go undone.

So, here she was now, holding tightly to a fairytale a traitor told her about in that scarcely amount of time they bonded with each other. A fantasy she wanted, wished, desired to come true. She may not trust Namaari, but a small part of her wanted to believe. Not to the fake friend with fingers laced against a weapon and a sharp blade pointed directly at her, but to believe that somehow, even amidst all the chaos and doom the Druun had casted upon them, there was still light. That there might still be hope to restore what's broken and ruined.

"Why is that, Namaari?" Raya's scowl is painted in a thick color of sarcasm. "Haven't you done the same five years ago?" For a brief moment, Namaari sees a tinge of pent up anguish and pain within Raya's eyes, only for it to falter, fading into the background as the latter continues her words. Her agony had now transformed into a fire of burning wrath, "You took everything from me; My people, my home, my  _ Ba. _ " Raya made sure to emphasize the last word, before her voice completely quivers, unable to play pretend anymore. Raya couldn't care less if she seems weak for Namaari, but she knew that she had to tell the Fang Princess what she feels, or rather spit her sins right into her very own face. She drenches herself into a sea of torment and grief: a side of hers that Namaari had never seen. "And you know what hurts more? I showed you kindness, I offered you friendship, I gave you my trust!" Namaari's build softens, her grip against her spear weakens, before looking at Raya with glassy eyes. She regrets the vile things she had done, deeply and truly; Namaari was well aware of that. Oftentimes, as the moon settles by the horizon and in turn the river mirrors its shape in crystalline fog, Namaari ponders all the things she's deeply ashamed about herself. All the moments from the past, that day her mother and young Namaari first set foot in the Heartlands. At that time, her younger self only cared about saving her people. Fang was starving while Heart was thriving, and thus that she deeply envied them for.

When she first laid eyes across the much more naive and younger Raya, she felt her heart stir. Either because of jealousy at how prosperous Raya and her people look, or simply those clear and fresh eyes that looked directly into hers didn't fail to ignite a spark of friendship; The Fang Princess didn't know. All she knew was, she regrets betraying Raya and breaking her trust, hence the world, as well, is broken. But most of all, she misses her. The young, carefree and innocent princess of Heart who shared most of the same things as her. She misses the friendship, the trust Raya openly gave her.

"And what did I get in return? You gave me a gift made out of pretty lies and a kick in the back!" she hears Raya let out a grieving shriek.

Namaari snaps from her thoughts and takes a look at the enraged Raya that stood before her. She was wearing a crimson cape that hindered the stolen dragon scroll away from everyone's sight. She was a whole lot different from the Raya she knew the first and last time she went to Heart.

The Princess of Heart, now a runaway from her homeland, once again speaks, snapping the raven-haired girl out of her trance filled with remorse for what has happened not only to the damned world they inhabit, but also at what happened to her former friend. "I stole your scroll? Well, guess what?" Raya laughs half heartedly, voice loud and filled with pique; the slight shriek and quavering tones that escaped her lips proved it to be so. 

Her tone shifts, the aggressive screams turn into a much colder tune as she growls,"You're no different from me,  _ dep la _ ."

Then, Raya lunges into free air. She lets resentment get to the best of her, a fire igniting within her dark pupils. Her sword, or Chief Benja's sword as Namaari remembers, swings from her side, the latter's quick reflex was enough to dodge it. She takes out her spear, defending herself. Usually, Namaari never backs down to a fight and instead brings her will in the idea of victory. But now, as she danced with Raya in a perfect synchronization of blades and spears, her will faded to thin air. She couldn't bring herself to fight back, to hurt Raya again. Somewhere, at the very back of her mind, she feels like she deserved this. That she deserved to get hurt, to feel the desolation albeit it might've not even been half as much affliction Raya encountered in those five years of sorrow and loneliness.

Raya spun around, suspending her blade into an axis as Namaari swung hers as well. Even if the long haired girl lived alone in the woods with little to no food to eat, Namaari can't lie. Raya was still a good fighter. But the deepest pits of outrage overtakes Raya, and a couple more slashes and turns are exchanged, before all her kept emotions completely blind her. She hated Namaari, loathed her even, but that was no secret to anyone. After all, how could you not hate the first person you showed your trust to yet chooses to splinter it alongside the world? Raya hated Namaari for breaking her trust. Raya hated Namaari for setting the Druun free, together with its lethal plague. Raya hated Namaari for destroying the Heartlands. But most of all, Raya hated Namaari for tearing  _ her _ heart to pieces.

It was love at first sight, Raya realizes a couple of years ago. The first time she saw Namaari, the sun was shining above the ethers' canvas. The first time she talked to Namaari, her heart felt a glint of spark igniting within her. It was not anger, unlike what it seemed to morph into right now. Younger Raya thought it was of excitement, a bird holding onto a flower of hope that perches into her home. Younger Raya thought it was because it felt good to have a friend; someone from alternate worlds, someone so unalike to her yet shares the same things with her. She was too young, too gentle and pure to know it was love after all. During her lonely nights spent in a cavern of dusk, however, older Raya realizes it's something more than that.

It was love at first sight.

Sadly, it was a love that was not meant to be.

At the back of her glaring eyes, she sees her past unfold in front of her. Younger Raya passing the test. Younger Raya being the guardian of the Dragon Gem. Younger Raya being too naive to give her trust just like that to a person she barely knew. Younger Raya believing that Kumandra can be whole again. Younger Raya being betrayed by someone she gave her trust to. Younger Raya being the foolish and pathetic kid she was.

Then she sees her father throw her off the bridge together with a piece of the dragon gem and his sword. She sees  _ Ba _ turn to stone, his posture still and most likely dead. That vision was the last straw, a kickstart to present Raya. 

It may have been love at first sight, but that notion lies somewhere beneath the past. And the erstwhile should be long forgotten. After all, her love for Namaari, though it took her four years to realize what it really is, was fading. She tells herself that whenever she feels the inevitable yearning. Raya focused on that night Namaari decided to betray her, and then gave her heart millions of reasons as to why Namaari wasn't worth the unrequited love and longing that Raya feels.  _ It was utterly childish _ , her brain reminds her heart. She was desperate to get rid of such feelings to the extent that she'd address that vehemence as a sickness, a plaque comparable to a Druun that will kill her slowly. After all, it was a crime loving someone who killed your family and ravaged the entire world. They were a broken dynasty, anyway. And so convince herself, she did. Although there were still hints of that certain emotion, Raya knew that it was long ago buried deep in thick dust, never to be fully seen again. Why? Because a lot has changed.

So did Namaari and Raya.

So did the world.

And so did Raya's heart.

Or so she thought.

Namaari's spear gets thrown off the ground, the metal clanking as it falls and makes contact with enough impact against the rocks. She spares it a look albeit brief, before turning towards her former friend, now an opponent. Her breath hitches, feeling the blade against the skin of her neck. "Raya…" the girl whispered, and Raya looked at her directly in the eyes as all she could see were thousand layers of walls that almost everyone cannot break and pass through. But the fled princess was also a scavenger, owning an utterly sharp and keen eye. Looking at Namaari, she sees nothing but a mixture of regret and loneliness and bravery in the Fang Princess' eyes.

She looks a little closer, and halts shortly.  _ Was that longing she saw? _

Suddenly, the scenery shifts, and it wasn't the eighteen year old Namaari that stood in front of her, cornered with Raya's sword against her neck. Instead, it was young Namaari looking at her, eyes filled with that same hue of joy and innocence that Raya first noticed from her. It was the girl who befriended her and gained her trust. The first girl she bonded with outside the horizons of the Heartlands. The girl she hoped would be her friend, and maybe if things strolled down the right path, the friendship they shared might morph itself into something more.

_ "Hi, I'm Namaari…" the word was tender spoken, barely a whisper, yet it was somehow audible enough to Raya's ears. "...Of Fang." the shy girl with a really cute undercut continues, head hung quite lowly as she looks at Raya softly, a light shade of carnation painted on her cheeks. Raya offers her a friendly smile in return, "Hi Namaari," she started, pondering at such a beautiful name owned by a girl as cute and as innocent as its possessor is. There was a glint in both of the girls' irises, and for a moment, everything seemed pure and real. A stepping stone in reuniting Kumandra again.  _

_ Lips still sealed with a smile, Raya took out her hand, reaching for the other girl's. "I'm Raya." the princess of Heart finally says, her chocolate orbs filled with glitters of mirth and joy. Namaari reached out for hers as well, and together, they made their way up the stairs, entering a new chapter of their lives. _

Somewhere, in another world, another timeline, or perhaps another universe, Raya and Namaari would have been friends. They wouldn't have been mortal enemies. They wouldn't have been each other's nemesis. Raya imagines what it would be like to continue being friends with Namaari. They would probably train together, sparring with each other without emotionally hurting one another. They would probably visit Heart and Fang, and perhaps the other lands as well, share meals and play with the other kids that inhibited their lands. They would probably play with Serlot and Tuktuk, sharing cherished rides as they explore the world. And when they grow older, they'd meet by the borders that lie between Heart and Fang. And maybe, just maybe, something more intimate will blossom.

Raya loved Namaari, yes. But she was blinded by her own anguish and hatred. She used to wonder if Namaari felt the same way for her as well. But that was a question meant to be left with no answer. The alternate world in which they both co-exist as friends don't exist. It was a world that existed only in Raya's imaginations, in Raya's fragile dreams. Because in reality, the princess of Heart and of Fang aren't made to love each other. They were both from two ends of the universe; Namaari was like fire, and Raya was the ocean. And if two different things crossed paths, _ if Raya and Namaari meet, _ it would just ensue danger. They would just be killing and destroying each other's hearts no matter how much both sides long for each other. They were written as lines of parallel, in which no matter how much they wish to fight the fate destiny created for them, it'll just bring them back to where they are meant to be. Away from each other's grasp, afar from one another's reach. Because Heart and Fang are enemies, and as its princesses, they must first choose their people and their kingdom before choosing their hearts' desire.

Perhaps in another world wherein Raya was no princess of Heart and Namaari was not the next ruler of Fang, maybe then they stood a chance. Maybe in there, they would be able to love each other freely. Maybe in that world, kismet was friendlier and they were destined to be with one another.

But this world contradicts their saccharine fantasy. And the sullen reality is that Raya and Namaari were not each other's destinies, for fate forbids them to cease the space that sprawls in between, proving it impossible to run to each other.

Because in the end, even if they want to change history, destiny will never allow it.

Namaari and Raya were two halves of a fallen and splintered dynasty.

"Raya," the Fang whispered, "You have to know that I'm sorry. I…"

The icy tune engraved within the younger's voice startled Namaari, "What is there to regret for? They're all dead,  _ binturi _ . And you wanna know why?" there was a pause occupying the slightest of seconds, before Raya's next words escaped her lips. Barely a whisper, it was a retort that sent more guilt trickling down Namaari's spine, "Because  _ you  _ killed them."

Raya hisses in fury and in vain, "An apology won't bring them back, Namaari. You're aware of that, aren't you?"

For a moment, silence fills the empty void.

Raya blinks, letting out a small scoff before she shakes her head. She saw this coming, Namaari was, and will always be a liar, a person whose evilness lies underneath a sweet disguise. She never meant anything she says, "See? This is the reason why you deserve to die just like them. You deserve the same fate,  _ binturi _ ."

"Go ahead." she says, voice shaking not in fear but rather of anguish and of remorse. The Heart princess smirks, lifting her sword in the air and Namaari expects to die then and there. She expects a slash of sharp blade against her skin or perhaps blood that can either lethally afflict her or kill her. Because somehow, due to her desire of escaping the horrid past, she preferred the latter. She deserved this, Namaari reminded herself for the nth time in her lifetime. Probably the last, she wonders. And so as she closed her eyes shut, Namaari awaited for death to come knocking by her door. Yet Raya's blade never pierced against her skin.

"No." Raya says sternly, "You need to suffer and pay for your crimes by living in guilt."

The Fang princess opens her eyes in misery and in disbelief as she sees Raya take the scroll out from the fabrics of her cape, holding it up for Namaari to see, "There's still hope in this,  _ binturi _ ," Raya says quietly yet the last words asserts bitterness, before forcing herself to utter such words that sent pangs of pain into her own chest, "But in us? I'm afraid, and relieved there's none."

Raya walks away, leaving a dazed Namaari before her feet halts as if she forgot something. Namaari could almost be sure that Raya will run to her, that she'll come back to her; only that what she wishes Raya would do was far more opposing from logic. She wants Raya to hug her, to be with her, to talk to her again like the old times. She wants to rewrite the stars, to weave a new reality. A reality to be shared with someone like Raya. Specifically Raya. But that was unlikely. After all, Namaari was sure that the long haired girl could never forgive her, just like how she cannot forgive herself. Much to her dismay though, Raya spares a look at the latter by her shoulder. Either she said it because of wrath, or because she really meant to do so, the Heart Princess was unsure. "When I find the last dragon, prepare yourself and your people. You'll be tasting the bitter fate you caused at Heart."

Her eyes, that beared the look of longing and a slightest form of love faltered and turned to stone. "You want your dragon scroll?" Raya retorts in tones of question, before tunes of mockery were sung in empty voids, "Well, I'd like to see you try,  _ dep la. _ "

With that, Namaari's nemesis runs away.

Her love for Raya was something, but her love for her kingdom and her people always comes first. In an instance, she realizes that her illusive world shared with Raya was something hopeless. It was foolish of her to even think so. And so, her yearning morphs into rage.

From there, Namaari realizes; fate was not a world beyond their control, and both Raya and Namaari can never rewrite what destiny has long since written. They were left on the ground, and the stars were high up in the skies, kept away from everyone's reach. The alternate universe that they both secretly dreamed of turns to stones and ashes. 

They're bound to break with hands tied, anchored to two conflicting and distant stars.


	3. epilogue

The day bleeds into nightfall, the sound of crickets and the light of dancing flames enveloped the atmosphere, creating a lightshow by the caves Raya lingers in. Tuktuk slept beside her, his size larger than Raya could ever remember during her days in Heart. During those happiest moments with her Ba. Oh how she wishes to bring him back; she would anchor all the stars in the world just to see him alive and well once again. Quietly, Raya wipes her sword clean with distant and yearning eyes, smiling softly at her father's memory. Deep inside, no matter how much she wants to deny it, Raya felt like an empty fortress. She was utterly hopeless. Raya knew there was no point in crying for something that's lost, and that she should just move on and start a new life. But no matter how resilient the quick-witted princess was, this was something she couldn't easily pass through. It was like a giant rock stuck in a road she's strolling by, or perhaps a thorn stuck in her throat. It was difficult to shrug it off just like that.

She takes the dragon scroll out, her eyes now filled with hope as she's clinging onto a fairytale that she wished would work. But before she could even sprawl it open, a golden metal comes dropping from her cape, clanking against the ground. The familiar, bittersweet figure of the material greets her, reminding her of such a dark past, as well as her own childish dreams of fantasy and myth. She could have thrown it away back then, get rid of it and move on. After all, it was a tragic gift given to her by a traitor she misread as her friend.

Somehow though, Raya realizes she couldn't. At first, she thought it was due to her love for dragons, convinced herself that losing and throwing away something so precious was like losing something she deeply loved and cherished all her life. At that time, she wanted to believe that it was because of the dragons and not because of a traitor that had given her falsities and lured Raya into lethal traps; a memory in which back then her naive self once thought that such a gift was a token of friendship. In time, Raya grew older, learned better, and as she discerned her true fervors towards the Fang Princess, realization washes over her: she kept it because she was still holding on to that small piece of hope where they could still be friends even as the chaos ensues.

Raya picks the dragon pendant up, its gemstone shining underneath hues of dancing red and orange. It used to be a shimmer of gold, a glint of hope and love, but now it turned to nothing but dusted rust. Just like what happened to both Namaari and Raya. For a moment, her nemesis' eyes filled her vision. Those dark orbs filled with strength and bears a color of dreadful spark that Raya utterly despised. She swore she could have thrown the pendant there and then, hatred coursing through her veins. She almost did, but just like back then, she didn't. 

Her brain tells her it was a token of not only bringing her family back, but also a pleasing reminder of Raya's revenge on Namaari and all of Fang. That until Fang is consumed by the Druuns' fire and the land is all but stones and cinders, it will serve as a token not for friendship but for her spiteful will. After all, Fang needs to pay for what they've done.

Raya places the pendant inside her satchel, closing it and tucking it away from the light. Resting her head by the walls of the cavern, Raya sprawls the scroll open, beginning to create out a plan. Not once did Raya even consider what her heart tried to tell her, its tune meek and barely a whisper. Her heart, that she assumed was broken and long since dead, tries to tell her it was because she still harbors the same warmth that had stirred years ago when everything was still in its right place, the time where Raya first met Namaari. Her heart misses Namaari, alongside their bond, their friendship. Her heart wants to fly, to break free from its cage that hinders herself from falling towards Namaari. Her heart wants to set itself free from the restraints she identifies as fate. Her heart wants to fight against it, say that they were made and meant for one another, and that no space and distance can keep them apart.

The heart tells it in a form of silence, too weak to speak, too overpowered by anger to even remind Raya what it was like to feel love. But nonetheless, her heart's voice seems to fall against deaf ears.

Without realizing, though, Raya clings onto the dragon pendant, thinking that it was for the reason her mind offers her, only that it was what her mutely heart tried to sing to her.

Without realizing, Raya clings onto hope.

Hope that everything will change, and will fall back to its right place.

That Raya and Namaari weren't made of deserted ruins and a dynasty constructed with pillars of demise.

_That the stars fate has aligned for them can be resung and rewritten._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry for the cliffhanger-
> 
> dw tho there will be a sequel in an upcoming separate story,, i'll prolly publish that somewhere by the end of the month AAAAA thank you for reading!!


End file.
